One Day We'll Be Happy
by Stolen Me
Summary: Nichols thinks about Morello a lot. Their past, their present, and (hopefully) their future. Collection of oneshots.
1. Chapter 1

**This kinda just started writing itself...I'm no stranger to the straight girl crush, so I guess this sort of came out of that.**

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Lorna…or Morello…was finally looking at her again. And not in the "I-pity-your-sick-dyke-heart" way, but in the "I-think-you're-a-person" way. Which was a nice change.

Nichols would be lying to herself if she said she didn't care what Morello did. Every single time she talked to Vause without sex being involved, they usually ended up talking about their girls. Nichols was right when she said that straight girls will always fuck you up. She was just trying to talk herself out of this.

She ended up hiding the stupid poster gift she'd made for Morello. It was dumb and ridiculous. So what if she listened intensely every time she'd start talking about Christopher and the wedding? Nichols already had her imagination show her what life would be like if her and Morello were getting married instead. She pretended that she was taking her girl to every place those little pictures showed. It was glorious. By far the best not-wedding (and to be honest, not-life) she'd ever had.

In the end, Nichols decided to put the poster under her mattress and buy Morello some candy from the store. Generic, but she seemed to appreciate it anyway. And Nichols didn't have to admit that she wasn't just missing the sex.

Better off if Morello didn't know more than she had to, anyway. She was still looking forward to getting back to her fiance.

Nichols had seen him once. She always watched all the visits every weekend. She barely had visitors herself, so why not?

When Morello was new in here, shocked and looking like she just stopped crying every second of the day, her boyfriend came to visit her a lot. He was a smooth sort of Italian guy. Didn't look rich at all, just stable enough to nab him an unsuspecting wife before he popped a few babies out of her and left.

Nichols didn't like him.

Morello was head over heels.

Eventually, the dude stopped coming. In Nichols' opinion, he'd probably found some other girl to fuck over, but she never told Morello that. The girl kept making wedding plans like Christopher was the most faithful man to ever exist. Nichols kept listening.

She kept a careful headcount of everyone's time in prison. If she was correct (and nothing changed between now and then), her and Morello would be walking out of here close together. Nichols knew she would get out first, but she had decided to wait around for a bit.

She had this late night daydream that one day, when Morello discovered Christopher didn't want the white wedding and the beautiful life that she did, that she'd come running to Nichols.

Nichols was keeping a careful list of all the places they could go after that.


	2. Chapter 2: Morello's First Night

**Yep...I wrote more. **

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Morello fell into her life about a year after Nichols got into prison. She was finally out of detox and into recovery mode. At least, she felt a little more like a person. As much as you could in a place like this.

One day, this scared petite woman almost _scampered _in the room when North came by with the new ones. She didn't make eye contact with anybody. Wouldn't even look over at her bed either, just staring at the floor like it was supposed to be saying something.

Looked like this could use an intervention.

"Hey, new girl. What's your name?" Nichols tried to make her voice sound as friendly and inviting as she could after a few weeks of disuse.

"Oh, Morello. I ain't in your way or nothing right?" Morello was fidgety, which was just goddamn ridiculous. You're in prison; if someone's gonna hurt you, they'll probably tell you first.

"Nah, just trying to make you feel more comfortable. I'm guessing this is your first time?"

Morello nodded instead of answering out loud. Nichols could get a better look at her now that she was up close. Definitely just been crying, probably in the van on the way over.

Good start to prison life there.

"Well, lighten up kid. It's…it's not so bad. If you've got someone to look out for you. We take care of our own around here."

Morello had finally calmed down a bit. "So you're one of my own?"

"Don't worry. Tribal, not racist. What are you in for?" Nichols leaned back against Morello's bedpost.

"Money laundering, mostly." Morello finally smiled. If Nichols were to try and pinpoint the exact moment she knew she'd have something for this girl, this was it.

"Alright. What's that? Not that long, right?"

"Four years. I kinda did a lot of it. And some other stuff." Now she was full on grinning. Damn, that was cute.

"Sweet. I got four years left, too. We'll stick together, you and me, okay? I'll show you to Red, our cook. Her food ain't the greatest thing you've ever tasted, but it's not her fault. She takes care of us. Of me."

"Alright, alright. What'd you do, huh?"

"Ah, drugs." Morello's face fell just the tiniest bit, so Nichols felt the need to clarify. "I'm clean now. Getting all better. I got a job down at construction or electrical or something like that. I dunno if they actually expect me to fix anything. They've just got me playing around with a lamp all day." She didn't like her job, but the boss was at the very least non-threatening, so she wasn't gonna go around complaining.

"Oh, okay. What do you think I'll be doing?"

"Not an expert at home repair, are you, Morello?" Nichols teased. Morello shook her head. "It's alright. Anything you're good at?"

Morello twisted her face like she was about to make a slight confession. "I used to drive some trucks for my fiance's company. It was boring, but I got pretty good at it. Guess you already got a driver though."

Nichols took a few seconds to compose herself. Fiance. Who the hell comes to jail with a fiance? You're either committed by this point, or you're not.

Either way, what had now become a full-fledged fascination was fast bringing down her mood. "Who, North? Yeah, she's getting out in a bit anyway. You could take over from her if you wanted. It's not a bad job at all. Plus you get all the independence or whatever. Not like you can just take the van and drive, but it's nice to pretend."

"Yeah. Might be nice." Morello smiled and looked back at the ground.

Sensing that this conversation was either going to get serious or awkward, Nichols took the chance to exit the room and find out what was on in the TV room. She had to see the last episode of the Jersey Shore before all the Hispanics started quoting it and ruining everything.

At the last second though, she reconsidered. She grabbed something from her pile of stuff from the store and handed it over to Morello, who looked at it in confusion.

"Look, I didn't cry my first night here, but I was still on a residual high. Just keep those and use 'em if you need 'em. Might make it easier."

Morello clutched the pack of tissues and nodded. "Why are you in here? You ain't new, obviously."

"I was in shu for a while. Solitary. My advice, don't flip out on someone who calls you a narc."

Morello nodded again. Nichols swore to herself right then that this girl would never have to end up in shu. She looked like she might break if she did.

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**Writing dialogue was actually really hard, so tell me how I did!**


End file.
